University of Tennessee Head Basketball Coach Cuonzo Martin's comments at weekly press conference:

Opening Statement
"I first want to congratulate Coach Summitt and the Lady Vols for winning a championship. It was fun to watch them play. They played hard.

"Our guys did a good job closing out the regular season. They played some good basketball, winning eight out of the last nine games - that's impressive in any league. To do it at the level our guys did it at, to get back in games when we were down, making shots, making plays, guys who hadn't played a lot stepped up - it's a credit to our guys for really staying focused and finding ways to win games. Also, the guys did a great job from start to finish of the season of getting better. And as a coach that's what you always want to see, your guys continuing to make progress every day, individually as well as a team. On both ends of the floor, we did that.

"One of the biggest areas of improvement was our free-throw shooting. Guys stepped up, especially late, to make big free throws down the stretch of the season. Trae (Golden) was obviously the best in the league at that. And it's tough to get beat when you can make them down the stretch and win games with that and the way we defended. The last game, we did a good job of not turning the ball over - so that was great as well.

"We did some pretty good things in the league from a defensive standpoint with numbers and percentages, from where we started to where we finished in regular season play. But it's just a credit to the guys' hard work, their commitment to defending at a high level, and more importantly playing for each other. That was great."

On when the team began making progress
"I saw it in some of the early losses, the four-game home stretch we had during the preseason before we went to Memphis. I saw the guys making progress, but maybe it was one or two guys and then another guy would step up in another game. One guy made progress defensively; the other guys might not have played as well. One guy made a pretty good move off the dribble - we'd been working three weeks on that and he finally showed it in a game. And then once the Florida game (happened), we got better as a team. From that point, guys individually got better and we got better as a team defending, trusting each other and believing in each other more than anything. There are still a lot of breakdowns in games, but when we make mistakes guys cover them up quickly on the next rotations defensively. Or when a guy breaks down off the dribble and makes a play, somebody is moving on the backside - whereas at the beginning of the season, we wouldn't rotate offensively to get the next play. Guys are doing that now."

On Golden
"I said that when I really saw Trae in practice, with his ability he has a chance to be one of the best if not the best point guards in this league - with his ability and his skill package. Now there's a lot of work he has to consistently do. As well as he's played right now, he's only a sophomore. As a starter in his first season, he played really well. He got better late. When he's getting to the free-throw line, he's tough to guard because now his whole game opens up. He's getting to the rim, he's knocking down the 3-point shot, he's penetrating and pitching. And then when he's not turning the ball over, he's really tough to guard at that point. He's really learning how to run a team more than anything. He's a guy who was able to take care of himself as far as his ability to score for so many years. Now he has to find a way to facilitate and run a team and be the leader out there on the floor."

On the rest of the backcourt
"The biggest key with the other guys - Jordan McRae is scoring. We need him to stay aggressive and looking to score, making strong moves to the rim. Also getting to the free-throw line more because he's a better free-throw shooter. He's missed a couple here and there but he's a really good free-throw shooter. We need him to get to the line. He's a guy who's built to score, so you need him aggressive. Skylar (McBee) is making shots - we need him to look for his shot a little bit more and be aggressive.

"But more than anything for our guards is to be able to take care of the basketball, to be able to facilitate on the perimeter, whether they are dribble-penetrating - we need Josh (Richardson) to dribble-penetrate more because he has that ability. Cam (Tatum) is playing really well. Cam is doing a lot of things - shooting the ball, getting to the rim, rebounding the basketball, defending. He's doing a lot of things for us."

On the team's expectations after being picked 11th in preseason
"I don't know what I really saw, to be honest with you because you have a new team. It's not like I had coached this team for three years and I could come in and say, `OK, this is what we're doing guys,' and you picked us to finish 11th and I knew the personnel, I knew the league and I knew who we were going up against. I was trying to gauge the talent and the coaches as well. So now you're talking about a new team, a new style, a new system - it's not an easy thing. You kind of learn on the fly, so to speak, understanding your personnel, where your strengths and weaknesses are.

"I always thought we could be a good defensive team. I didn't think we would be as bad as we were out of the gates. I thought we could be good defensively early, just because we could be solid. I didn't want to walk the ball up the court and hold the ball until we got good defensively. I wanted to try to score, to not only be entertaining but to give the guys confidence. That way, when the defense did catch up, we would be ready. I thought we'd be a little bit better defensively early in the season than what we were."

On how much Stokes has improved his game
"As good as he is, he hasn't had the chance to really go through the grind of practice and the system. Right now, what he's doing is just everyday practice; that's what he's learning. Whatever we do in practice that day, we don't have the time to go back and say, `We did this four months ago; let's work on this.' He had his best game defensively against Vanderbilt. He did a tremendous job - we watched the film - of playing post defense, challenging the shooters. When our guards were late, he did a good job of getting his hands up on the shooter. He did a really good job with his whole floor game.

"He's a double-double guy, even on a bad night. But right now, I don't think he's the player he's going to be, and that's just really him getting a feel for the system more than anything. Everything is still fast-paced and moving. Once is really kind of slows down and he gets a gauge of everything, he'll be a special player."

On how Stokes has changed the team
"We were playing pretty good ball - he didn't play in the Florida game - but it's just another piece. Kentucky is good because they have multiple pieces that can play. When you're trying to be one of the best teams in America - North Carolina has multiple guys who can make plays. So he's really helped from that standpoint because you have to identify him on the floor. When our guards penetrate in the lane, it's hard to leave Jeronne and Jarnell because they can make plays and you have to box them out. You have to double-team him, so now Jeronne's open.

"He opens up so many doors for you, as well as Jeronne, so it's hard to say, `Let's hone in on this guy; we can beat them.' There are too many options now."

On how Kentucky's undefeated SEC season reflects on the league as a whole
"They're a good team. We had an opportunity to beat them here, but they're a good team. They play well together, they do a good job of executing on both ends of the floor, they have a great shot-blocker. But this is a good league. I guess you could ask that same question with Syracuse going (17-1) in the Big East. When you're good, you're good, and you have to give credit where it's due."

On how Coach Martin's perception of the league changed after one season
"From the outside, I always thought it was a league that just scored a lot. I don't think it gets the credit for defending the way it does. You've got a lot of teams that can defend in this league. You've got a lot of coaches who can coach in this league - guys who understand and actually do a scouting report and execute it and you have to play. I was asked the question, `How does this league compare with the Big 10 when I was playing or even as a coach?' They are very similar from the standpoint of you have to be ready, you have to game plan, you have to scheme. Not gimmicks, but you have to understand what's going on because these teams actually do their homework and they take away your strengths and you have to find a way to make plays."

On the decision to stick with Golden at point guard
"From the standpoint of experience, you had other guys there but he had to be that guy. He can be that and I was not about to let him off the hook and just let him play some 2 guard and shoot some balls and not do the things he needed to do in order for our team to be successful. His future is at point guard in this program and he's going to be a really good one because he understands and he's playing with a level of confidence right now. He's only going to get better. His best position for us is at point guard."

On Golden's best position in the pros also being point guard because of his height
"Oh, without a doubt, and not necessarily the height but just his game. He has to be a point guard. You're talking about him being a pro, especially at the NBA level, where 2 guards are 6-5, 6-6, 6-8, 6-9 and you're trying to defend them - it's not an easy thing to do. But for him, being point guard, which he can be, he can make plays, he can dribble the ball, he can get to the rim, he can shoot the ball, he can do a lot of things. And he's just getting better and better every day."

On certain signs or coaching determination leading to the team's defensive improvement
"A little bit of both. It had to be, in order for us to be successful. But just seeing the bodies, like Jeronne Maymon's body, Jordan McRae's length, Skylar McBee's toughness, Cam's length - you can be a good defensive team. With defense, it's putting the time into it but it's also having some pride and some love for playing defense more than anything. Because you don't have to be the quickest guy to be a good defender, it's just having something in you and taking pride in what you do."

On if this season is one of the more fun years
"The thing that's fun for me is when you see guys get better every day, when the guys look forward to practice. When you go to practice and your guys don't look forward to it, there's no excitement in practice; it's going to be tough. We generate energy in our practices. I can't be in a practice if there's no energy, no life, guys aren't getting better. Why do you do this if your players aren't getting better? Just to see our guys make progress every day. But also as a coach when you see other guys not making that level of progress you'd like for them to make, you continue to drive and push to get it out of those guys. That's the fun part about doing what we do -- just making sure guys get better. Jeronne Maymon making big free throws late and having the confidence to do that. Trae Golden has 17 or 18 free throws in a row. Trae Golden making plays off the dribble. Cam Tatum not giving up. Jordan McRae is becoming a scorer. All of the sudden he has a chance to be one of the better scorers in the league if he continues to keep doing what he's doing. As a coach that's what drives you more than anything."

On the tournament environment
"You have to take one game at a time and play every game like it's your last game. That's very important. I don't think you're saving anything or holding anything back. Every game is one game at a time. As you go into a tournament environment, that's my focus. There's no tomorrow. You try to win every game you play; you don't hold anything back. You make it to the next day; you prepare to win that game the best way possible."

On preparing with a bye
"I've been on both sides. It just depends on how you look at it. I think with a bye, you don't know the opponent so from a scouting standpoint you can't give your players any exacts. I think in this particular case with Auburn and Ole Miss being similar teams -- physical, grind you out, rebound, tough, hard-nosed -- so they're similar in their approach. It's not like one team is the tough team and the other team runs the Princeton offense. Both teams are similar so it helps you. It's hard to go into practice and give specifics on the scouting report and say they run these plays because you don't know. For us, we've talked about it from Day 1. We rely on our principles defensively so if they do run a new play, our principles should get us out of that jam."

On overcoming the freshman wall with Stokes
"You know, I don't think he hit a wall. More than anything the conditioning kicked in. Initially, he was running on adrenaline, the emotion, the atmosphere, the crowd getting him through certain situations. But then the scouting reports got to him, the double teams in games, throwing different things at him, he has to defend at a high level, he has to run down the floor, he has to help. All those things are mentally taxing more than the physical part of it. Once he had a couple of games under his belt as he comes back around, he's done a good job. Like I said, last game was his best game all year. He did a really good job in the second half against Ole Miss and he did a really good job in the Vanderbilt game of defending, rebounding, boxing out and playing hard. It was a case of him getting the feel for everything."

On the physical and mental toughness of the team down the stretch
"Early it was always Jeronne or Cam who would say a few words to set the tone. Now it's more of a team. Jordan McRae has always been a guy that loves to score. He's telling guys that was a quick shot, you shot too quickly or `let's get a stop right here.' He's taken pride in that area. He has a great IQ for the game and you need him to be more vocal because he has a good understanding. It's more of a team now than anything. Even guys on the bench will say a few things because they understand the culture; they understand how we play. A guy can shoot a shot in the game that might be quick and the guys on the bench will say it's a quick shot. I don't even have to say anything. This is what we do; this is how we do it and the level we do it at. When you get to that point as a program when your locker room is saying the same thing as your coaching staff, you have a chance to be pretty good."

On the media requests following the win against Vanderbilt
"I like talking to you guys. It's not a problem at all. It's part of the job and you do what you have to do. It's not a big deal at all."

On a hypothetical list of criteria for the tournament
"You have 10 wins in the SEC. When you say it from an NCAA standpoint as a body of work, we got out of the gates slow, but eight of the last nine - how many teams in the country, especially in at-large leagues, BCS leagues, eight of the last nine, how many are saying that? That's impressive the way our guys have played. When you talk about getting better as a team late, we've gotten better as a team. Also, you have the addition of Jarnell Stokes. Earlier you would be a different team with Jarnell Stokes because he's been in your practice and rotation. Obviously, we're a better team, no question. The guys on the team before Stokes have gotten better. I like our chances. You talk about 10 wins -- 10-6 -- that's impressive."

On how many wins it will take to make the NCAA tournament
"We try to win every game we play. Every time Tennessee steps on the floor, we're trying to win a ballgame."

On if top 25 wins speak for the resume of the team
"I like to think so. As tough as it is to win on the road, I don't care what league it's in, to win a road game isn't an easy thing to do. It's a mental toughness. That's why a lot of teams don't do it. To beat top 25 teams and then win one on the road, it's impressive. Once again, we didn't do it early in the season. Down the stretch, we did it late."

On changing the Wednesday-Saturday routine
"My whole thing is everyone has to do it. For us, we took off yesterday and we'll take off today. So you have two days off to get healed, healthy and ready to go."

On being on the bubble last year
"Was it painful for me as a coach? It was for the players and me feeling for the players. You go 15-3 in the league and you win seven in a row, so it's tough from that standpoint. It's part of the profession and part of the business. Like I tell the guys, if that's the worst thing to ever happen in your life, you're going to live a great life. It's easy to say, `Win every game.' Well that's not realistic, but it was a good experience for those guys and they're better men for it."

On the irony of trying to knock off mid-majors now after last year
"We laughed about that as a staff. It's amazing because the Missouri Valley got two teams in this year. Wow (laughs). It's part of it. You try to control the environment the best way possible. I like the situation here much better because of the fact of where we've come from and where we are. I like to think we're a tournament team now, but as a coach I'm happy to see our guys getting better and to see them having fun playing basketball and with a smile on their faces. They walk into practice with a level of toughness and swagger to them. That's what makes me happy - to see these guys represent the way they represent and fight for each other."

On preseason training keeping them from wilting now
"Part of the stuff we do in preseason workouts -- there are no magic tricks. We're not jumping out of airplanes or anything like that. It's just mental toughness all the time, fighting through situations, competing through certain drills in practice. I think it helps you think sometime because you're so mentally tough. You know, we get down 15 in a game or 10 points, I just say let's work them back down. We don't need to fuss about it or make a big deal about it, throw trash in the locker room. Hey, let's get back in the game. These are the things we need to correct and let's get moving. The guys understand that. They keep a level of confidence and they keep a level head. This is what we have to do to get back in this game. We've been here before; we've seen every scenario, so let's do what we need to do to get this win."

On historically underperforming in the SEC tournament
"I do my homework from a history standpoint. I'm the coach in 2012. For us, we're doing everything in our power to win ballgames. If it's history and negative, I don't pay attention to it or talk to the guys about it. We're just doing everything in our power to win a ballgame."

On Kenny Hall
"He will not be playing in the tournament.

"Thank you."

Opening Statement
"We're coming off a big win for our guys at South Carolina. As tough as it is to win road games, we found a way to get it done. We played well outside of the turnovers. We played well as a team. We scored, and we did some good things when Jeronne (Maymon) went out with foul trouble. Dwight (Miller) gave us good minutes. Trae (Golden) really stepped up in the second half as far as attacking the rim and being aggressive. He more or less set the tone for us offensively. And Jordan (McRae) has been playing well the last five, six or seven games; he's probably been the most sound offensively. He just is understanding his feel, attacking the rim, shooting the ball - probably could stand to see him get to the free-throw line a little bit more with the way he shoots free throws, so that's been good.

"Jarnell (Stokes) is getting better every day; getting better. The hand's getting stronger and he's doing some good things for us. He does a really good job of passing the ball. He's better than I thought he was at the top of the key as far as getting the ball, making moves off the dribble and making decisions, so we've got to get him in positions where he's doing that a lot more. Cam Tatum really responded and played well on the road. He probably played one of his better overall games. He scored, got to the rim, really dribble penetrated and found Jarnell on a couple of layups, found other guys. He rebounded the ball well when he played some four-guard; he really rebounded the ball well, as did Jordan McRae. But it was fun to see him play as well as he did.

"We're one of five SEC teams with multiple road wins, which from where we started to where we are now is a great accomplishment for our guys to really stick with it and stay the course. Because as tough as it is when you're taking over a program and you're teaching the guys to try to learn and understand, with so many new guys and unproven guys so to speak, it's tough to keep guys engaged when you're losing games. Our guys did a really good job every day of coming to practice with the hard hat on continuing to get better, because that's not easy. Losing can be discouraging, but the guys did a tremendous job of staying the course.

"We're in a good place right now as a team because we continue to get better, and that's a good sign. More importantly, the guys continue to work hard in practice. Even better, guys are spending a lot of time with individual skills in the a.m. and the p.m. hours when the coaches aren't around. That's when you really start to make progress as a program.

"Here we are; we've got LSU on the road. A physical team, a talented team, they play really well at home like most teams. They go inside-outside, they score, they get out in transition, their big guys go inside-out, they can face up and make shots, they score it on the blocks, they're physical. They had a tough one at Ole Miss so they'll be ready to go. It's Senior Night if I'm not mistaken, so it should be a good atmosphere."

On if it's tough being the road team during Senior Night ceremonies
"I'll say this as humbly as I can say it: Not when I was a player. I enjoyed the road atmosphere. That's what you look forward to because of the excitement. You go in there and do what you have to do; you don't have to worry about pleasing and playing a certain way. You're just trying to get a win. It can be as ugly as it can be, but you're just trying to get a W and get out of there.

"I don't think that will be the case for our guys. We have to go out there and play the way we're capable of playing and not get caught up in the atmosphere."

On evaluating LSU freshman Anthony Hickey as a recruit
"Kent Williams actually saw him once when we were at Missouri State. I know Coach (Tracy) Webster saw him when he was at Nebraska. I had never seen him play before, no. I wish I had, though. We were more or less playing catch-up (once we got to Tennessee). He's a talented young man."

On where Maymon's level of play stacks up in the SEC
"There are so many talented players but the One is (Kentucky's) Anthony Davis. That's understood, and then you have other guys who definitely will be professional players. But when you're talking about SEC players and the way they compete and bring their hard hat every day, I'd put him (Maymon) up against anybody. He brings it every day and he never takes days off. He's early. You go in there at practice and at 2:30 he's getting shots up, he's getting them in the morning. But the thing about him is the way he plays, how hard he plays, to not take days off and to do pretty much everything on the floor for you. He's invaluable for our program. We can't go far without him."

On the tough early schedule paying off at this time of year
"More than anything it's a credit our guys. Not giving up when you have tough games and tough losses, to stay the course and continue to get better. The most humbling loss was losing at home to Austin Peay - give those guys credit for winning the game and coming and competing. But as a coach, that was the point where our guys said, `OK, now let's start to listen. Let's really completely buy in to Coach.' Because that was a humbling experience for our guys. But the things we talked about from Day 1 as a staff to make them understand - you approach every game with a hard hat. It doesn't matter the opponent.

"But having a tough schedule, I'd do the same thing with this team a year later. You didn't have a luxury with a new coach of getting out of the gates with some confidence, getting your head up. We had to have some tough losses and eventually we started to learn from them."

On calling the Austin Peay loss a turning point in this season
"That was one where, `OK, I think the guys are ready to listen and truly understand.' But it was also a case of, on a neutral court, I don't know if we would have won that game. We weren't a very good team. What happens is you go off a reputation of a guy in high school because a scouting service said this - was he really that good? It's one of those deals where we had to get better as a team. We weren't a very good team. On a neutral court, I don't know if we would have won that game."

On when the team became better than not `a very good team'
"Florida is when we started to turn around, because then they understood, `OK, we can play. We're a pretty good team.' And that's not to say we lacked talent, but talent can only go so far. They started to understand, `OK, we can be pretty good. We've got to continue to work, though.' There's a work buy-in on a consistent basis and they guys understood that."

On believing that it's the last week of the regular season
"Like I said, hard work pays off. I don't know if I would have said that watching us early in the season because I don't know how tough we were. It was never necessarily a case of how much talent or more talent, it was just a work-ethic behind everything I was doing and guys truly understanding how hard you have to play. I said to the guys who didn't play a lot last year but were on the team, there's probably a reason why you didn't play. You have to truly understand that as a player. It's nothing personal, because every coach I'm quite sure is trying to win ball games. He's going to put the best players out there on the floor to win games. So it meant we had to get better individually before we could get better as a team."

On where the team can still get better
"Oh, man. Individually, you turn the ball over so that means being able to handle the ball. One-on-one, handling the ball, handling it with pressure and still being able to make decision. We work on those things from Day 1 of practice, so handling pressure and able to make decisions with pressure and not turn the ball over. Each player can get his skill-level better, every player can get better defensively. You've got guys who need to improve 3-point shooting, guys need to improve off-the-dribble moves.

"But we've gotten better individually as a team and defensively we're maybe 75 percent of where we could be, because we're doing it now and we're winning some games. But it has to sink in that this is a way of life all the time, and this is understood. Whatever happens offensively - we score 80, we score 90, we score - but we have to defend at a high level all the time."

On doing anything differently over the course of the season
"Not at all; not at all. I go back to when I was 18 sitting on Coach (Gene) Keady's bench. I said I wish I were 21, but I had to be 18 at that time. I had to go through it and I had to learn, and that's part of it. There's nothing I would have changed because you've got to go through it. I have a system in place. We're still doing the same thing we've done since Day 1; the guys have just gotten better at it.

"Once again, it's more of a credit to our guys of being consistent because I wasn't about to go out and say, `Let's play a zone and win a game here and there.' It wasn't about that. We were going to defend that man-to-man at a high level every night. If we play a zone, it's just throwing something out there. But that's not our defense and that's not who we are. We could have easily wavered in that department as a staff, but it wasn't about to happen because we don't make progress when we make changes, quick changes. What happens - even with players and I was a player once - when you see a coach constantly changing and he's in the huddle wavering, second-guessing and doubting, I was a ball-player, I fed off that, I understood what was going on; because you follow his lead. But if you stay consistent and say, `This is the way it will be and this is what we're doing in order for us to be successful,' then guys understand that. Now I'm not stubborn from the standpoint of if something's not working. We've tweaked different things, subtle things. You have to do what's best for your personnel, but the blueprint is still the same."

On the challenge of not wavering during difficult times
"I didn't doubt one bit, I really didn't. Because I know it works; it's been proven. If you have a level of toughness, you can be successful. And we didn't talent; I don't know that we had a level of toughness. We didn't have a level of team togetherness, a passion for one another - `I really want to see my teammate be successful before I see myself have success. When you have that, then you have results because you start to play together. You don't worry about whether your shots are falling or not. You're just playing basketball. No, I didn't waver. I really didn't. At the end of the day, you've obviously got to recruit and continue to get better from a personnel standpoint. You can make all the excuses in the world, but you have to continue to get the guys you have in your program better. We have the pieces to be successful."

On if the season is in the balance
We keep rolling. We're fighting for our life. I mean, it's just--you have to get better every day. There's plenty of work to do and our guys are hungry right now. We're fighting. We don't have any luxury or margin for error. We have to be successful to think we've done something special. We have every right just like anybody else to win ballgames. We have to continue to get better and we're getting better. We've got a tough road game and we're going to do everything in our power to try and get it.

On the similarities between the LSU and Alabama games
Any road game is tough. I just look at it as playing LSU, not necessarily playing Alabama. Alabama played well and did a great job as a team of winning the ballgame. LSU is trying to win a ballgame; Tennessee is trying to win the ballgame. Someone has to come out of there with a win.

On his relationship with LSU coach Trent Johnson
I had Kyle Weems--a guy that played for me at Missouri State--and Coach Johnson coached his uncle at Stanford. We've known each other for a while. He's a good man, well respected in his profession.

On improving on the road
I think one I think is to make shots. We've just gotten better. You have to accept the atmosphere and environment and embrace it. We've defended better as a team. For us to be successful, we need Trae Golden to be solid in his department, especially offensively--making stuff happen. When he's getting to the rim, everything flows. Not to put a lot of pressure on Trae Golden, but if he's able to penetrate and make stuff happen, everything opens up offensively.

On whether the team has talked about doing big things at the end of the season
Without a doubt. I actually said in the South Carolina game, you have a chance to do something special. To go 8-8 worst-case scenario, it's not often that in league play you can go .500. Now you have a chance to at least go .500 in league play, so now let's have some fun and do some things. I think our guys are excited about these last two games; it should be fun.

On LSU's style of play
I think--like most teams--they're more confident at home: taking tough shots, making tough shots, really running in transition. Their big guys do a great job of stepping out and making 3's. I'm not sure on the numbers but I think they lead the league in offensive rebounds. They have big, physical guys so we have to use bodies. Hopefully we can get Yemi out there in a case like this because they have physical presence around the rim.

On LSU's Hamilton
Physical. They go inside out. Johnny's a big kid, but he can put the ball on the floor and face up and make shots. They both do that, but Johnny's really good at putting the ball on the floor. We have our work cut out for us. They have good frames. They're not slender in build; they're physical guys.

On the resiliency of the team
I think the four losses obviously--one was Mississippi State, tough loss there. Tough loss here against Kentucky. Georgia was a tough one. We just really turned the ball over. I can't think of the other team. I thought we were in position to win those games and just came up short. That's the maturation of a team to go through those situations and understand what it takes to win ballgames. It's not an easy thing to win games on the road; it's really tough. I go back to Missouri State: we didn't win a road game my first year there. Personnel we weren't at the level we are here. The second year we won one road game; third year we broke records. It's more of a mental approach. You're teaching your guys how to compete on the road. Even when you lose, guys understand it's a way of life. It's how we approach the game. I think it's a credit to our guys. I've been in lockerrooms where you lose games and as a coach you try to keep your guys positive and help them understand we're making progress. With young guys, they want that W. We're not making progress since we lost. I saw it in certain games. It was ten minutes here, 15 there, maybe a half. All of the sudden, it started following suit.

On Jeronne Maymon's stability
Without a doubt. I think the really good teams have multiple guys like that on the floor at all times, guys you just book in so to speak that you know what you're getting from them every night. He brings it every night. He works hard. Sometimes he goes against guys who are closer to small forwards and he guards them well. He switches ball screens. He defends. He rebounds. He boxes out. He handles the ball. He's only getting better because he put the time into it. Now he's putting time into his shot. The thing about his shot--and he has a good shot--it's his confidence more than anything, just to feel comfortable shooting the ball. When you have multiple guys like him on the floor you have a chance to have higher level success.

On Maymon's scoring consistency recently
I think that was more of a case of him believing in his skill and also as a coach I have to put him in position to score and make sure he gets the ball in certain situations. For him, it was around the basket. He's a guys that I know now can face up to the basket and make plays off the dribble. You can have him on the perimeter even though he isn't shooting because he can make plays off the dribble.

On not having monotony late in the season with a new coach
I hope not. It won't change next year. We practice for an hour. It's really not as much defense this time of year. It's a lot of skill work: ball-handling, shooting, getting shots up. It's not defense outside of like a 10 minute segment talking about principles against another team. If you don't like skill work, you don't like playing ball.

On tweaking things to stay away from monotony
All the time. I'll look at the practice plan and I'll just say that I don't feel like this today because of the body language of a guy. We'll just shoot free throws and go with something different. It just depends on how it feels. A lot of the time it depends on how my body's feeling. If I feel exhausted, I'll just shut it down and go to walk-through. If I feel that way, I can only imagine how they're feeling.

On senior day
I think when you've been in relationships, for me it doesn't matter how much time it's been, they're a part of your family. For Renaldo and Cam, those are two quality young men and two good guys who put the time in. They've been solid. It's not always easy, but once again these guys are part of our family. They might be going away certain places, but they're part of the family and they're always welcome. In most cases, you get most of your feedback when they're gone. They won't tell you a lot when they're here, but they give you everything when they're gone. They're two guys I enjoyed being around.

On what he gave up for Lent
My wife actually did something and I said I would try to give up sweets, but that's a fight I can't win. I tried to give up sweets and so far so good, but we'll see. That's a fight right there.

On the bowtie
The Black Coaches Association came up with the idea. It's really for prostate cancer awareness. They called me about it and I said I'd love to be a part of it. I get involved in so many ways with cancer and I want to make people aware. I'm just doing my part. I'm not a bowtie guy. It clipped on.

On getting a bye in the SEC Tournament
It doesn't matter to me either way. We just want W's. If we can win games, we keep moving forward. It doesn't matter to me. I've been in a situation where we needed to get wins. We finished maybe 4th or 5th. We felt like if we played more games, we could get into the NCAA Tournament.

On making the NCAA Tournament
I'm not on the committee so if we win two games and finish 10-6, I don't know if we're in the tournament. We have to win games. We need to continue to play games and have success.

Thank you.

University of Tennessee Coach Cuonzo Martin's comments at weekly basketball press conference:

Opening statement
"We had a great crowd again on Saturday; it was exciting. It's fun to be a part of this when you have that type of atmosphere. Trae (Golden) played well - 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. But more importantly, he did a good job of running the team on both ends of the floor. It was his best job all season of really directing traffic and letting the other players know what was going on. That went well. Cam Tatum is closing in on 1,000 points, but the biggest key for him is staying encouraged and staying positive and continuing to work on his shots even though they are not falling on the level he would like. But he is confident and he continues to work on it, so that is always a good sign. We had our turnovers down - 10 this game, six in the first half and four in the second half. A total of four isn't bad. A goal for our team is to get our turnovers down and our assists up from this point on to the end of the season. That will be a big key for us, whether we are playing at home or on the road, to really take care of the ball. We have to improve our offensive numbers. We had a good day on Saturday offensively; we have to continue to improve those offensive numbers. It's just a matter of spacing and knocking some shots down and getting a level of confidence, but that will come."

On South Carolina
"The team is competing. They had a tough one against Kentucky, but they played hard. They run the matchup zone and they will play some man, but probably 65-70 percent will be in matchup zone. They will trap some at the top and they will trap in the corners. It's a team that is hungry."

On the possibility of Golden starting against South Carolina
"If he continues to work hard in practice, I think so. For me, it wasn't trying to send a message to Trae. I'm not big in trying to prove a point with a young man, because he is part of our team and our family. But I need to see Trae play hard on both ends of the floor. If you are winded, that is one thing. But you have to put forth a better effort and he did that last game. He has to be more consistent. When it is all said and done, if he continues to work to exhaustion and push himself to be the best, he has a chance to be one of the best guards in the league when it is all said and done."

On what goes into determining minutes that players play
"More in that case - playing hard, timing, it might be situations. Renaldo's case against Kentucky, he made some shots. I don't think it is a case of anything in particular. It was more matchups in this particular game, running matchup zone and Renaldo being a small forward, having to chase those guys on the perimeter. He played tough and the way our big guys are playing it was tough to put him at forward and not the three when he went into the game. When you play him at small forward, it is about the right matchups against Renaldo. It wasn't about him playing bad, but just chasing those guards off those down screens would have been tough for him."

On Jeronne Maymon and Jarnell Stokes still learning to play together
"Well more than anything, Stokes is learning to play with Jeronne. Jeronne is feeding him; he is educating him. It is a lot of stuff Stokes is learning on the fly. Georgia ran a couple of different schemes at him when he was on the defensive side of the ball he had some good looks, cross-screens, down-screens, which I would do the same thing when you have a guy who is inexperienced as far as reps under his belt. He did a good job of making adjustments. We tried to get him out as soon as possible to draw them (the situations) on the board to let him see it in case it happens again. I think it is more Jeronne is doing a good job of teaching him and showing him the way. But also you have to give Kenny Hall credit. He does a better job than I thought as far as his communication on the floor and really helping guys."

On goals for the team at this point in the season
"Just working hard one day at a time. You have to keep plugging. As a coach, you are all of a sudden halfway through and you try and set some goals. You might have small goals of trying to win your home games, that sort of thing, but for us it is to continue to play hard and play together as a team and all those goals will fall in place."

On the team's attitude
"They have done a good job. These are good guys. More than anything, it is about them trying to learn and find a way with a new coach, a new style - but also guys playing a lot of minutes. You're talking about guys who went from five, six, seven, eight minutes, if they played, to 25 to 30-plus minutes a night, but with a new team. It's not a case of having three returning starters and you're trying to gel a couple of guys; you're trying to find your way as a unit. And also for me as a coach trying to get a feel for these guys and what I expect certain guys are capable of doing through watching game film and practice, and all the sudden it might not be that case when we get into game situations. So as a coach, you also have to make those adjustments. But from a character standpoint, these guys have been great. They bring the hard hat to practice and they want to get better. And they get along; that is the biggest key."

On South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn talking about Tennessee playing tremendous defense
"I thank him for that, but our guys are getting it. I still don't think we are where we'll eventually be when it's all said and done. I think so this season; I'm not talking about next year. I think we can be one of the best defensive teams in the country this season. Our guys more than anything are starting to feel the results of playing at a high level when people say you play hard and compete. I told our guys that more than anything, that is a compliment. When people say you have a toughness level and you play hard, that's the ultimate compliment. When I watch teams and I gauge just as fan, I notice how hard teams play. If you play hard you have a chance. Obviously, you plug in personnel and from that standpoint offense comes and goes. But if you play hard, you have a chance to be successful. And when you rebound the basketball and you take care of the ball, those are the areas we have to continue to improve upon."

On South Carolina's Bruce Ellington
"More than anything he has a level of toughness to him, and not just because he plays football. He's a tough kid. If you watch how hard he goes, he's physical, he's not afraid of any situation, he'll attack the rim, he shoots the ball from the perimeter, he's a tough defender and he's a leader for those guys more than anything. And right now they're just making the adjustments of getting him out there full-time because it's tough when you have a rotation and all of a sudden here's a guy you plug in - even though he's probably one of your better players if not your best player. You're plugging him in and it's still an adjustment. Those guys are just trying to find their way and trying to find their way in one of the toughest leagues in the country."

On how hard South Carolina played at Florida
"Oh, yeah, they competed. They played hard. When you're fighting for your life so to speak when it comes to basketball, that's how you should play. You're trying to win a ballgame. And like I said to our guys, everybody's a part of this SEC so you have a right to win a game. Nobody is exempt from trying to win a game. They want to win just like anybody else and they'll come with their heart. Darrin gets his guys to play hard. Unfortunately, they've come up short in some games but they'll compete."

On if Tennessee is fighting for postseason basketball opportunities
"We're just fighting to be a good team. If you do what you're supposed to, the postseason will come. We're fighting to be a good team."

On fan and media concerns with the starting five
"I'm consumed with this team. My job is to coach this team, not get caught in the periphery of what people think. That's not how I make decisions. Based on the personnel and my staff, we make decisions and we move forward. Outside of that, I don't get consumed with it."

On other possible lineup changes
"We'll see. If they continue to push forward, we'll be OK. If not, we'll see."

On the benefits of Skylar McBee playing point guard
"He's probably the second-best option as far as running the point on our team at this point. He's sound, he'll do the right things with the ball, he's not careless with the ball, he'll make the right decisions, he's safe, more than anything - which is what you want."

On if playing point guard changes McBee's offensive capabilities
"I don't think so. Because once our point guard brings it up and passes it, we run a motion offense so it doesn't matter where he is on the floor. Spacing, which we teach, penetrating and pitching - it really comes down to reading a defense."

On the team's success defending the 3-point shot
"We do believe in defending, period - just getting guys off the 3-point line. If you look around the country and you study and scout, not many guys can make plays off the bounce consistently. If you get them off the 3-point line with your help defense, your recovery defense, you force guys to make plays, multiple plays. You don't want guys getting relaxed. We did a poor job in the first 5-10 minutes against Georgia in guarding that 3-point line, and that was some of our breakdown of ball-screen defense as well. But you want to get guys off that line and make them make plays or make the extra pass, and not many teams and not many players can do that."

On goals for the team's 3-point defense
"Under 30 percent. That's the goal at the 3-point line. Under 30 percent. Really contest shots, more than anything, but you want to keep them under 30 percent."

On South Carolina's matchup zone
"With a matchup zone, you give it some zone offensive looks but more than anything you still run your motion offense, you run your set plays because it's constantly moving. It's not a set where you might have a big guy out on the perimeter in one of those guard positions because of how the offense might be aligned. So you just run your offense, execute your offense and don't get consumed with it."

On how a team bounces back from a decisive loss
"I've seen both. I've seen both of in a case where the confidence drops because a guy might be taken out of the starting lineup or the coach might have gotten on a guy pretty tough and he didn't bounce back the next game. But I've seen guys come back hungry, excited about an opportunity to win a game. Because all it takes is one time to get a win and you get your head up. It's amazing how the brain works and the mind works from a standpoint of the level of confidence. All it takes is one game."

On how Maymon has fit so well into this team's plans
"For Jeronne, he's probably at 75 or 80 percent of where he will be when it's all said and done. He continues to get better. We'll use him more as we go, especially into next season - being more on the perimeter, handling the ball, making decisions, even though he's good at that and continues to get better at making decisions with the ball because he's one of our best guys at that. But not being careless with his passes. But when it's all said and done, he has a chance to be one of the best because of his ability to go inside, outside, attack the rim, putting pressure on the defense. And when he's shooting those free throws at 75-percent plus, he's just too tough to guard."

On where Maymon needs to improve the most
"The 3-point shot at the top of the key. That's a shot because of how we play with the high-low offense, the motion offense, the ball-screen offense - that 3-point shot at the top of the key. Now you can really stretch the defense and do some of the things we like to do. That's the biggest key. And he works on it, but it's just a matter of him having the confidence and feeling good about it. I know when I was in college, I worked on that shot for two years and then really didn't start shooting it until my third year. It's just the confidence in shooting it more than anything because he had good form on it. It's just him feeling good about it.

"Thank you."

Opening statement
"We had a solid week. We didn't play as well in Nashville but I thought we bounced back strong and really competed on the defensive side of the ball. We did a good job of executing our offense. We've got to knock some of those shots down from the perimeter and late in games take care of the ball. It's very important. We had four turnovers in the first half of our last game and ended up with 16. Those were careless mistakes in handling the ball.

"Now going on the road and being ready to play, it's more mental than anything. Our preparation is there. It's just a matter of carrying out assignments, being ready to play and having fun - embracing the atmosphere more than anything. That's more mental right now, the mental toughness part of it.

"We're doing a good job of rebounding the basketball, especially offensively. We're doing well from a defensive standpoint as a team - really gotten better in that department, really taken pride in that area. Now we've just got to complete the mission more than anything. We're holding our opponents in league play under 60 points - down seven from during the pre- (conference) season, so the effort is there."

On ways to find more offense
"It's just a matter of guys knocking shots down more than anything. If you go back and watch film, we had some pretty good looks in the Auburn game from the perimeter. It's just having the confidence and knocking them down. I don't think you continue to try to add different plays, because I don't think it's the plays. It's just knocking shots down - especially when they're open. Now if you don't have open looks and the team is playing great defense, that's one thing. But your bigs are getting doubled on the blocks and you have the opportunity to score the ball it's just really, simply, knocking them down."

On Jordan McRae getting more minutes
"If he continues to work hard, yes."

On learning about Kentucky from the first meeting
"Watching them on film, they made plays when they needed - it was one of those games where both team played hard, both teams defended. But when they needed plays to be made on both sides of the ball, they made the plays necessary to win the game.

"(Michael Kidd-) Gilchrist got a big rebound, got a big dunk, made a big three. Anthony Davis made a big jump-hook. And on the other end, we had some opportunities. Got the ball knocked out of our hands in certain areas and got some great looks from the 3-point line and didn't capitalize. It was just a game of players making plays down the stretch.

On if Tennessee has faced a better defender than Kentucky's Anthony Davis
"Not at all. He's the best in the land. You have to give credit where it's due, because he can change the game completely with the way he defends. And the thing that's most impressive about him is he does it without fouling. He does a great job of playing extended minutes without fouling, and he's so even-keeled. And then you're talking about a guy with his frame - kind of a slight frame - but he takes hits, he's very physical, he doesn't back down from challenges.

"But a very impressive defender, one of the best I've seen in a very long time because he does it without fouling. And that's not an easy thing to do when you know teams are constantly coming at you. You scheme for him like he's an offensive player when he's on defense."

On talking to the team about the challenges inside Rupp Arena
"Just go play, have some fun and compete. Once again, as a ballplayer, you embrace that type of atmosphere. Going on the road, you want a hostile environment. It's just going and competing, doing the things necessary to win the game, carrying out the necessary assignments on both ends of the floor. The great ones love that environment."

On McRae bouncing back to earn more playing time
"He has done a good job with that. He's a guy who was built to score and shoot a lot of balls. The key for him is understanding that in order for him to be successful and our team to be successful, there are things he has to do on both sides of the ball. And he did a great job of stepping up and taking a charge in the Auburn game. He has good length on the perimeter; he has good athleticism. It's just using all those necessary tools to be successful, because he can help us."

On the impact Terrance Jones brings to Kentucky
"Well, he's talented. He's the one guy they go to most of the time on the blocks. First play of the game is normally him on the post making a play. He's a physical presence around the rim, he can make threes, he can take it off the dribble - he does a lot of things for their team. A talented player."

On the definition of `staying ugly'
"It's just really playing hard and not really consumed or worrying about how you look. It's more about how you play, and really from a toughness standpoint - being physical, being aggressive, being assertive. In college, I had different color shoes. Our uniforms were gold and black and I had red and black shoes on. It didn't bother me. I played in them because I was just playing basketball. One time I had different shoestrings in because the other ones broke. I didn't care about all that stuff. I was just playing basketball.

"When you consume yourself with the effort on the floor, you don't worry about all that stuff on the periphery."

On guys possibly losing offensive production because of increased defensive intensity
"You would have to ask those guys, but you also gauge the offensive performance against the competition and how they played. The good ones perform at a high level - and the game's been played on both ends of the floor since these guys were born. You have to be able to do it at both levels."

On if defensive demands affected Coach Martin's offensive performance when he played
"Good question. For me as a freshman, because I couldn't play on the perimeter it was all defense anyway just to get on the floor. Once my offensive skills developed, I was able to play on both ends of the floor. I do understand that. I became a better 3-point shooter and I was still a really good defender. You're a ballplayer and you play at that level. Defense more than anything is having pride in what you're doing, and offensive is spending time working on your shot.

On Jarnell Stokes' growth since joining the team
"He's grown because he's spent time with it, and it's still going to take him a lot of time. You go from the time we started in the spring with all the returning guys, to workouts in the fall up until, really, SEC play when we became a better defensive team. Now you're talking about a young guy fresh out of high school, with four or five months of knowledge he didn't from this program. He obviously came from a great high school program.

"I played on a high school team and we played a 1-2-1-1 press back to a 2-3 zone. Gene Keady was all man-to-man, so there's an adjustment you have to make just at the different levels and the different programs. For him, he's put so much time and he's trying to gain so much knowledge, he will be good at it faster than probably others because he wants to be so good at it. And he takes pride in what he's doing."

On Kentucky's differences since the first meeting
"It's more tweaks than anything. When you look at the good teams, when you're No. 1 in the country there's not a lot of change. The competition changes more than anything. You watch their offense, they tweak here and there. But when you're the best in the land, I don't know how much change you try to do because they are good at what they do. You see it coming. You have to find ways to defend it and guard it more than anything."

On Tennessee's status since the first meeting
"I definitely think we're better at home, and now you have to go on the road and prove it more than anything. Are we a better team? Yes, we're a better team. But you have to go on the road in a hostile environment and prove it."

On the play of Kentucky's Darius Miller the last few games
"I had a chance with the World University team to coach Darius and I really like him. He probably was the most complete player on that team because you could put him at any position on the floor and he was very effective. He does a lot of things well. He can make shots from the perimeter, play from the two through the five (all positions except point guard), really - they play him at the 2, 3 and 4 (shooting guard, small forward, power forward). A lot of times it depends on the mismatch. He can take a smaller guy on the post; a bigger guy he takes on the perimeter.

"I really like the way he plays and he has such composure to him. He's a guy who as a senior coming was off the bench and accepted that role and embraced it. Now he's starting. It's just a credit to him as a ballplayer to stay ready."

On the reason for Trae Golden's recent shooting struggles
"To be exact, you'd have to ask him. The biggest key is getting in the gym and continuing to work on your shot. Whenever your shot isn't falling, it's just getting the reps up and working on it, getting the confidence back to make a couple. He did a great job of getting to the free-throw line the last game and making his free throws. That's the one thing I talked about with him from Day 1: Try to get to the free-throw line to get baskets.

"When you're the key guy offensively, obviously teams key on you. He's rarely going to get open looks consistently - one or two times in a game. So for him, it's pressuring the ball on defense, bringing the ball up the court in transition and making plays, finding guys. Teams identify him, so he will never have easy looks. The key for him is when that double-team comes (in the post), being able to knock that 3-point shot down. When we're in the bonus, get to the free-throw line and gets some free throws that way to try to get as many easy baskets as possible - which is easier said than done."

On thoughts about Rupp Arena
"I've seen it for years. I had an opportunity to play there in the NCAA tournament back in 1994 and it seemed like a nice place to play. Great rims, great atmosphere. But I've never actually coached in that environment and never coached against Kentucky in that gym. So it will be exciting."

On limiting road turnovers
"Really just take care of the ball. It sounds very simple, but just really take care of the ball and make simple plays, make simple passes. No disrespect to Georgia and Vanderbilt, but I don't think it was, `Were they were pressing and running and jumping all over the floor (as to why) you had 20 and 25 turnovers?' It's just really taking care of the ball and making good decisions and playing to your strengths."

On if lack of concentration is a reason
"I would say definitely it's lack of concentration in your mental approach. Because just sticking to the script, doing the simple things, getting the ball where it needs to go, if a guy's open pass to the first open man, jump-stop and make a simple play in transition - it's very simple. It's just a matter of doing it."

On Kentucky's Marquis Teague making significant strides since the first meeting
"He made strides even before we played them. I've known Marquis since he was a little guy and he's done a great job. He's always going to score. He could really score the ball, but he's done a great job of accepting the fact that he has to run that team on offense for those guys to be successful. Because he's a guy who could score 20 a night. I give him credit; he's done a really good job of making sure those guys get shots, make plays. And then when the shot clock goes down, that's when he plays. He's getting to that rim and he's making plays. He's done a good job."

On being able to identify players who embrace playing on the road
"I don't know that it's necessarily easy to identify, because when you recruit guys out of high school you recruit them based on the talent or what you need and you like to assume they have that. There are a lot of different factors that go into it when you get to college up against different competition. You lose confidence, homesick, not playing as much - so a lot of different things go into it.

"There are some guys you don't think have it and they're the best at it. That doesn't have anything to do with being the best player on the floor. That's something inside of you as a competitor more than anything."

On talking to the team about those road issues
"I've talked to them about that since I took the job. That was Day 1. That's just who we are. That's a brand. You don't all of a sudden walk into a game and say, `This is what we're trying to do.' It's too late at that point. That's everyday conversation."

On how Coach Martin got himself prepared to play in hostile environments
"That started back 40 years ago, I would imagine. Growing up in the environment I grew up in, you're not fazed by a basketball game. My biggest fear in college more than anything was Coach Keady. It wasn't the competition. I averaged 25-30 points per game in high school. My first year of college, I sat that bench and I ended up averaging 5.3 points because I did the things necessary late in that freshman year to get on the floor and play. But it wasn't necessarily the competition or the environment I was going against. It was more him (Keady), trying to please him and do the things he needed me to do to be successful. But as far as going in the gym to play a game, it's just a game. I look forward to it."

On if Coach Martin hopes his players fear him the way he feared Coach Keady
"Just respect what I'm saying and how we go about our business. How I walk every day, they understand this is how we walk in the gym. It's not a question of who you're playing against; it's how we're playing. That's just a mentality, and that's developed over time and every day.

"Thank you."

Opening statement about Connecticut win
"Once again it was a great atmosphere. Our fans were great. Good game against a great opponent. A hall of fame coach. Our guys stepped up to the challenge. We found a way to pull it out in the end. They made some plays, big plays. We got a little relaxed there late in the game, but found a way to win. Our bench played well - 15-0 compared to UConn's bench - and our guys were solid. Nothing spectacular, but they were solid with their effort and their approach, especially on the defensive side of the ball."

On Jarnell Stokes
"The biggest key right now is for us to allow Jarnell to continue to grow. He is still about 65-70 percent of where he could be as a player. That is more of the system, conditioning his body and playing at a consistent level. What he has shown more than anything is his ability and his talent level - that he is an elite talent, an elite player. But there is still a lot that can be done and a lot that can be learned. He is doing a great job of absorbing everything. I want him to have the opportunity to take it one day at a time and to be a college student athlete and continue to get better. That is the most important thing for his growth. The guys have done a really good job of allowing him to develop and playing with him. Since he has come aboard, our communication on defense has gotten better. The effort overall has been good, but the communication has gotten a lot better because they try and help him through situations and are constantly taking to him, trying to let him know what is going on. It has really benefited our communication on the defensive side of the ball."

On the next step in Stokes' growth
"If you break down film, and I wouldn't necessarily call it breakdowns because he hasn't really been through it, but just being online with his ball, when to hedge, when to switch ball screens, when to rotate and just really stuff that he hasn't been through yet in practice. Because when you are constantly playing games, you go into the next game and the focus might be on a different scheme, so to speak, even though the base is always there. So you don't have time to just break down and say, `Here, Jarnell. This is what we are doing.' Because when we bring him in on one-on-one's it is more watching film to see it but you really can't unless you go through it to get a real feel for it. But it isn't anything he hasn't seen before, just about going through it more consistently because it is different schemes every game and the stuff we teach from the August, September, October, November, we just touch on it in practice so he is familiar with it. What has really helped us, because now we go back to shell drills, just basic stuff that you do the first three months, we went back to those things and I think those principles always help your guys."

On believing Stokes would have this kind of impact
"No, I didn't, but at the same time I also had in mind that I could go the whole season without playing him. I really did, because I wanted him to be ready more than anything. I want him to be a good player, because here is a good man that sacrificed. He didn't get the opportunity to go to the prom and do all these normal things that high school kids do. He made the decision to leave home, where in most cases with a lot of young men and women you have the opportunity to hang out with your buddies in May, June, July and then all of the sudden you go off to college. Well he didn't get that opportunity. He is right in the mix. He just turned 18 two weeks ago away from home. That isn't easy, so for me I wanted him to be almost 100 percent before I put him on the floor to be OK with not just playing basketball but to be OK with everything surrounding the game of basketball -- being on the college campus for the first time, where he is living as opposed to the transition in the summer time. Like I said, I was 100 percent OK with not playing him all season. But it was one of those things where he was hungry to play and it didn't matter how many points he was going to score or how many rebounds - `Coach, I just want to play.' - and he picks things up so quickly that I feel he would be ready to go at least from the physical perspective. That helped him out more than anything."

On being surprised at Stokes' success
"I think so, I think so - because he is going up against the best in the land at those respective positions, so you have to give credit where it is due from that standpoint. That is not an easy thing to do. I know at this stage when I was coming out of college if I would have done this (enrolled early) I would have been sitting on Coach (Gene) Keady's bench. I wouldn't have been playing. But like I said, because of his physical stature, he is able to do certain things, he is able to take hits and he has played against the best from an AAU standpoint. Once again, this is the result of having an elite type of player. He can step in and play. That's what it is about more than anything."

On Stokes' play opening other recruiting doors
"I would like to think that is part of it. But also because of the work our staff has done, mainly our assistant coaches, that's the reason you have a Jarnell Stokes - because you laid the work and you really hit the ground running and are doing a good job recruiting. When you have a guy of this magnitude, it helps across the board - not only guys in the state of Tennessee but in other states as well."

On Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun's compliments about Tennessee
"For me, I have known Coach Calhoun for a long time. He is a guy who recruited me. As a coach and for our staff, I said from Day 1 that if teams say that about our team then we have a chance to be successful. That is all I really want here; everything else is really bonus and everything else falls in place. The individual accolades as far as players, they are well-deserved and they put the work in to receive those accolades. For a program when you are tough, you are hard-nosed, physical - that is a brand more than anything and not many programs have that and we are still working toward getting that."

On how teams will start playing Stokes and Jeronne Maymon in the future
"The thing about it is, you can go in and defend those guys and you can have a game plan, which we have a game plan going into games. But there is no one way you can guard those guys because of the fact they can make plays off of the dribble. They are not just back-to-the-basket guys. They can face up and make plays and make moves. Jeronne, as we continue to work with him, will be one of the best and he is pretty good now. He is pretty good at making moves when he is dribbling, passing and finding guys. Once we get them into practice this spring and summer where you can see it - because once you take over a program, you don't really know it - but now you see he has that ability where he can really be a great facilitator in taking guys off the dribble. It just takes his game to another level. For both those guys it's hard to say one thing you can do to stop them because they can do other things."

On if going deeper to the bench is something that will continue
"It's a couple things. What happens is you try and give guys an opportunity because they put the work in practice. Unfortunately, you can't play everybody. For us to transition and really try and put Ronaldo (Woolridge) at the three or four as a backup, we have to do that. But there are some things he has to continue to get better at - more than anything, feeling comfortable on the perimeter consistently. For me, it is him chasing guys off screens when you have smaller guys coming around. He is chasing guys. He has to know when to switch and guard smaller guys. He did a great job against Connecticut. When he switched on a guy, (Jeremy) Lamb beat him off the dribble. But he did a good job of trying to make a play. I don't think we will go that deep. The game plan with Wes Washpun was really to try and put pressure on the ball and make them work to bring up the ball. That was definitely a key. Dwight (Miller) has worked hard in practice, but there are some things he has to continue to improve upon. He has put the work in, but I don't know if we will go that deep."

On Vanderbilt and their front three players
"Physical. (Lance) Goulbourne made some shots, made some big shots - he made four threes against Mississippi State. He had nine up to that point and he made four in that game. So obviously his confidence is at a high level when shooting the ball from the perimeter. Now for us, we have to play a little different when we guard him in certain situations. But he's always been talented; he has always been good going off the dribble. But the big guy (Festus Ezeli) is tough, he is strong. He is finding his way. They do a great job of moving on the perimeter with those four guards and getting them inside one-on-one. So we have to find a way to do a really good job of trying to keep them out of the lane and trying to work for post-position. That's easier said than done because they have so many schemes. On the backside, the perimeter guys are coming off screens when you are trying to protect the backside while they are coming off screens and throwing the ball over the top. We have to do a great job of putting pressure on the ball."

On Vanderbilt's John Jenkins
"He can stroke it. One of the best in the country if not THE best. And the reason I say that is because I don't know what the percentages are - he's third in the league as far as percentage from three - but he's one of those guys who take and make big shots. He's not a guy who is spotting up and always wide open. Most of his shots always are contested. I saw him this summer where he took big shots with pressure, guys on him, and make three or four in a row with tremendous pressure. You have to be there on the catch when he has the ball. He has to beat you from start to finish off the dribble. If he's able to catch and shoot consistently, it will be a tough night for us. He has to make plays off the dribble the whole night."

On Josh Richardson's impact since the start of SEC play
"He has a great impact. He's a tough defender, a good athlete, has good sense and good awareness about the game and who he's defending. When it's all said and done, he will be one of the best at that position as far as being a stopper defensively. We've got to get more guys like him. If we can defend like that as a team, we'll be pretty good. He takes pride in defending. He'll guard the point guard. He wants that challenge, and I think that's the best thing about him. He wants to guard those guys, and it doesn't matter where he's playing. He wants that challenge."

On coaching from the baseline in Memorial Gym
"Well, it's my first time going into the gym. So as far as my approach, we'll just take it as it comes. When we walk through (Tuesday) and go in the gym for shoot-around, we'll get a feel for it. Some of my assistant coaches and some of our players have been in there. We don't call our plays vocally anyway, so it won't hurt us from that standpoint. We have a few signals for certain situations - we'll call some after a timeout or draw something up. It will be a little different, so we'll see how it goes."

On Vanderbilt's offense being so difficult because of its variety and diversity
"When you have multiple guys who can make plays off the dribble, multiple guys who can catch and shoot and you have a physical post presence - I think so. But once again you have to have great pressure on the ball, you have to be there on the catch more than anything, and you have to limit their shots. So when they get a shot, we have to get the rebound. They can't get multiple shots at that basket. John Jenkins, when you watch him on the film, he's one of the best at relocating when a shot goes up, they get an offensive rebound, you thought he was right there and the next thing he's on the other side of the floor knocking a three down. They do a great job of finding him to get that second opportunity."

On if wins like Saturday can help on the road
"More than anything, you're good enough to win on the road - that's what it says. Now it's just a matter of the mental part taking over down the stretch of games. You've put yourself in position to win the game, now you just have to win it. But it's not an easy thing to do to win games on the road, even for some of the best teams in America. It's just putting ourselves in position and then trying to win the game."

On Maymon responding in the second half to Connecticut's physical first half play
"He did well in the second half. Once again, it's been amazing that he's gone this far and this level. He's 6-7, 260, a physical presence and very mobile. But when you've got one or two guys consistently running and jumping - in most cases he might have a guy who 6-6, 6-7, probably thick, or maybe a guy who's 6-8 and not as physical - but to have two big, physical guys around the rim like that running and jumping. He got two travels in that game, shot-faked one and the other guy's on the other side. It's not an easy thing to go against, but he's not backing down from any challenge. And he did well in the second half of really being aggressive and attacking the rim."

On it being the first time Maymon had been pushed around
"I'd hate to say `pushed around.' They did a good job of defending him but I don't think from a physical standpoint that he backed down. I don't think he was as assertive, but I'd hate to say `pushed around.'"

On concerns against the press
"Not at all. Sometimes, really, going against the press we get it over the top and go ahead and score - get some easy baskets. It's just a matter of receiving the ball, having confidence to receive the ball, getting the ball up the court and making plays."

On if Trae Golden's production has been hampered by his ankle injury
"I don't think so - you'll have to ask him to get his assessment. This time of year, somebody's always injured or hurt. It's just part of it. It's what we do. It's a physical game, a tough game. You have to play. I don't think so. My thing - if you're able to play the game, then you're find."

On Skylar McBee's late-game contributions against Connecticut
"It's a credit to him and the work he's put in, the confidence. When he got that ball late in the game to shoot those free throws, he didn't look like he wanted to pass the ball - which is a good sign. He stepped up and knocked them down. He's done a good job for us defending, working hard. But his success happens in practice. He plays hard in practice. It's not a case of all of a sudden the lights come on, `Let me try to play hard to get some minutes.' He plays hard in practice. It's hard to keep a guy off the floor like that, who competes and brings his hard-hat every day. You watch him in the workouts. He competes at a high level; therefore, he has a chance to be successful in the game because he duplicates game speed. That's the thing we talk about with our perimeter guys. You have to be able to play hard in practice so when the game lights are on, you're able to manufacture the same intensity in the game.

On what impact finally winning a close game might have
"It will be good. Our guys have gotten better - they are better - and I said that even before Jarnell came in the fold. But it's just a matter of completing the mission. The one thing about the guys - they feel good about themselves going into games. We haven't gone into games thinking, `We can't win this game. Why are we showing up?' So now it's just a matter of taking care of the ball more than anything, because we're defending - not at the level we will consistently be, but we are getting there."

On Golden's solid play without scoring many points being a good example for him
"I think so. The one thing about it, in order for us to push forward to the next level as a team and as a program, when you have guys on the interior - Jarnell, Jeronne, Kenny Hall - guys who can make plays, who can score, you have to feed them the ball. And as a shooter, I played with Glenn Robinson. I told him, `Here's the ball. I'll spot up and I'm over here if you need me.' Because when those guys demand that type of pressure and that double-team, if you can make a shot you want to play with those guys. They are more than willing to pass the ball to you. He (Golden) did his best job of really running the team, slowing down when he needed to, directing traffic, making plays. He did a great job of that."

On the team's inside success since the Memphis game
"It's what you have to do, but at the same time it was hard to really sell that if your big guys aren't posting at the level they really need to or demanding the ball. It's one thing to stand down there like you're posting and it's another thing to BE posting. Our guys are doing a good job of really presenting themselves on the blocks to receive the ball. It's a physical game, and a lot of times as guards we don't understand or realize how physical it is around the rim. So if I've got big guys who are working hard, I've got to reward them some type of way. They're getting offensive rebounds, they're running the floor - I have to reward those guys and that's what I tell our guards. If you want to be successful and you want to win as a team, you have to get the ball inside.

"Thank you."

Comments from head coach Cuonzo Martin and junior forward Kenny Hall during the Vols' Jan. 16 press luncheon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Opening Statement
"I think the biggest thing that we have to do a good job of - I think we are progressing in a lot of areas - but our biggest concern as a staff is turnovers. I think we had 13, 14 and 15 in the last three games. We watched film on it again this morning as a team and staff. They are really unforced turnovers. So that's one area we have to get better at, taking care of the ball more than anything. We're putting ourselves in great positions to win games but we have costly turnovers in tough situations. So that's an area we have to get better in.

"I also think what Kenny and Jeronne and those guys are doing a really good job. Even before the addition of Jarnell, I thought those guys really asserted themselves against Florida and Mississippi State, against some of the best in the country at their respective positions. They're holding their own. It's good to see those guys play at that level and progress at the pace that they're at--it's fun to watch those guys do it on both ends of the floor.

"I think the next phase for us now is really competing and getting a win on the road. Is it do or die for us? No. I think we have the mental capacity to get it done but we have to take care of the basketball. I think we've been in tough situations, tough environments and tough games. Now we have to do a good job of really taking care of the ball, getting the ball where it's supposed to go. I thought we did a tremendous job of pounding the ball inside against Kentucky, but we have to stay consistent with that throughout the game--even if they're blocking shots. We've got to keep pounding the ball inside.

"I think the biggest plus for us as a staff right now is our team defense. We're finally starting to get to where we need to be in order to be a successful program, to be one of the better defensive teams in the country. One of our goals heading into the season was to hold teams under 40 percent from the field. We had 40.6, I think, in league play. Holding them under 30 percent from 3-point range and I think we're at 31 or 32 percent. Points: 60 or less in league play and I think we're at 61. So, we're making the necessary progress against three really good opponents. Now it's being consistent with that and keep putting forth that work ethic and getting into that mindset where we're trying to get stops every time down. I don't know if we have that mindset right now. I think we're a better defensive team, but we have to get that mindset where we hate for teams to score baskets against us. Once we get that mindset then we'll be making another step."

On Jarnell Stokes' debut "I think the thing that helped Jarnell was who was on the floor with him. They did a good job of communicating and helping him through situations and making him understand. From a play standpoint, he didn't know a lot of them, even though he's very intelligent. We didn't put a lot in there. So it was kind of get the ball inside and have space. So I think it's a credit to the guys who were on the floor with him, to put him in good situations to make plays. And they really did a good job of talking to him on the defensive side of the ball. Kentucky put him in some situations where he had to make plays and make decisions and I thought our other guys did a good job of helping him out."

On whether Jarnell Stokes' minutes will increase
"I think so--as long as he's in good shape and understands what is expected on the defensive side of the ball, more than anything. With him, Jeronne, Kenny and those guys, you have guys you can throw the ball inside to and make plays. So you can be safe offensively if you don't know a lot of plays. But from a defensive standpoint it's hedging ball screens, rotating, switching different ball screens, helping recover--those are all different things he has to make adjustments to."

On how soon Stokes will be in "basketball shape"
"It's hard to say. I know he was winded early in the game, but I think the crowd and the adrenaline and atmosphere got him over the hump somewhat in that last game. But it's hard to say. We'll get him up and down the court. He got some work in yesterday. But we'll get him up and down the court as much as possible."

On hype surrounding Stokes
"We're not concerned as a program. We go about business as usual. This is a team and not a bunch of individuals. Even though my name is on the marquee, it's our program. It's a credit to the guys that are currently on the team - before he got here - to make the adjustments necessary for him to be successful. These are good guys and they want to be successful. They understand what it means bringing a new guy in. They've done a great job of really embracing him."

On turnovers
"The unfortunate thing about it is that it's not because the opposing team is applying great pressure. It's probably doing too much for certain guys. I thought we had some costly transition turnovers against Mississippi State. I thought Kentucky did a good job of knocking the ball out of a big guy's hand, especially in the second half. It's not really pinpointing one thing, it's just taking better care of the ball. If you're not a true ball handler, don't handle the ball as much."

On offensive energy and production
"We have to be a great defensive team in order to get where we are trying to go. We tried the 90 points and came up short. I think for us, we have to be a tremendous defensive team, and that's the way it will be as long as I'm a part of this program. On offense, you have to make shots, you work on your game and you get it inside and score the ball. You look at Kentucky. When you get into league play, if you're a good team and you execute what you're trying to do, you're not scoring a lot of baskets just coming down the floor into your offense. If you're a good team on both ends of the floor in league play, it comes down to grinding it out and getting stops and that's what Kentucky did to win the ballgame. Their individuals made plays. That's what it came down to. You have to be able to defend at a high level if you want to be one of the last teams standing.

On better defense in league play
"I think the lineup change had something to do with it. In order for us to be a champion, we have to defend. I think in Josh's case, he's a defender by nature. He's a guy who will be a good scorer but he's a defender more than anything. I think Renaldo just brings a different level of energy. But we haven't changed anything defensively. We're just doing the things we talk about, and I've said it before, I never thought defending could be that hard. It's just taking pride in shutting your guy down."

On scoring production from starters
"We don't go into a game and say, `This guy needs to score this amount of points.' If we're pounding the ball inside, we're getting production. I don't have a gauge on a guy--"OK, I need this guy to score 18 tonight.' We just need to put our guys into position to score. What they did the other night, which is a credit to our big guys--is that they started doubling our posts. So now we have to make plays out of a double team."

On whether strong post players make shooters more valuable
"If he consistently makes shots, yes. That's the biggest key. You have to be able to make them in big time situations."

On Calipari's remark that the Vols are an NCAA tournament team
"I guess I don't read a lot of anything. Like I told our guys from Florida up until now, are we're one of the 68 teams, I say yes. But you have to put a lot of work in and cover some ground. I would definitely say from the time we started league play I would say yes. But we have to consistently win games. But I don't get caught up in reading all of that."

On quick turnarounds
"They are young and fresh and will heal in time. They have a long time to be able to be healing. There are a lot of sacrifices. We took off Sunday--we take off once a week. But there are a lot of sacrifices when you start talking about being a great athlete and a great player. You give up some of the Thanksgivings, Christmases, holidays, if you want to be the best. And they chose to do it. It's part of the job. I didn't see my daughter's first birthday. I wasn't there. I missed a lot because of my job. But they aren't doing anything different than any of the best teams in the country."

On Georgia
"They're a talented team. They have really good guard play, their bigs are talented but young. They probably face up more than back to the basket. They are good shot blockers but they're young. They play well off the dribble, run a lot of ball screens for their guards. They got off to a real good start at Vanderbilt but came up short. But I thought they did a great job out of the gate.

On road struggles
"I've always approached games like it's the last game I'm going to play and I've got to do everything within my power to win this game. I never went into games thinking about a team's record. Look at our record. There is no margin of error for us. We have to go out and try to win a ballgame. Regardless of the opponent, I think we are playing better basketball now. We are playing better and that helps. This is the time when you want to start getting better."

On Renaldo Woolridge seeing more time at the three
"Yes he will. He has done a lot and plays with a lot of energy. He's played at the five and four and some at the three. That's not an easy thing to do. There are a lot of situations where we have a lot of different lineups out there. He'll still play some at the four but will slowly try to incorporate him into the three position. He has to readjust his mind to really defending at that position, chasing guys at the small forward position. That will be the biggest adjustment for him--guarding smaller guys off the dribble and chasing guys off ball screens."

On number of Kentucky fans in Thompson-Boling Arena last Saturday "It concerns me. We see 21,000 plus, we'd like to see 21,000 plus in Orange. Especially when you say you are going up against a rival. We have to do our job representing. If we're going to wear the Orange, let's represent the right way. If the upper bowl is packed is one thing, but when you have them in the lower bowl... Back when I played at Purdue, there was not a lot of red in the lower bowl when Indiana came to the gym. So we have to represent the right way. Now I'd like to see a lot of Orange when we go to Lexington. When you say you want to be the best, you have to approach it like the best."

On team's progress
"My gauge as a coach isn't necessarily winning or losing ball games. Obviously, I want to win every game. But I think the way the guys are playing and how they are competing--and also with guys like Jeronne and Kenny, when they realize they can play with the best in the country--then they take another step. Not only can I play well, but I can compete on the same level as the best. That's when you start making strides as a team and as a program. Regardless of how talented Jeronne and Kenny are, they hadn't played a lot of minutes. Now they are getting those minutes and have chances to go up against the best and start to think, `I can do this.' It takes it to another level."

On confidence in Kenny Hall
"I think in order for him to grow, he has to believe in me, too. It's a two-way street. I have to have trust in him and he has to trust me. When you keep pulling a guy and pulling a guy and he's second guessing himself. He's doubting himself and he can't grow. Part of growth is going through that fire and he did that. He got into foul trouble early in a lot of games, but he stuck with it. But my job is to stick with him because I see his future. A lot of times guys don't see their future. So as a coach, you have to put them in position to see what they can be if they work for it. I just gave him the opportunity to grow."

Tennessee Head coach Cuonzo Martin's comments from his Jan. 9 press luncheon

Opening Statement
"Before I get started I would just like to congratulate Tobias Harris. He had 15 points last night; I think it was a team high. I thought he did a really good job; it was fun to see him have success. He is a wonderful young man and he has done a lot for our program in such a short period of time. I am really happy for him."

On Florida
"Our guys did a good job against Florida. It was probably our best effort all season against a very talented opponent on both ends of the floor. We were executing offensively, defending at a high level and executing defensively as well. We played hard, competed, got the ball inside, made big plays and more than anything sustained the blows. They are the type of team that even on our scouting report can rail off 12 quick points on you in transition, shooting threes, attacking the rim. We did a really good job of slowing those guys down and making them work for catches. Extending their offense was probably the best effort all season, switching the ball screens and making them make adjustments. It was a great team effort as well as the atmosphere."

On word from the SEC office regarding Jarnell Stokes
"He is actually cleared and today will be his first day of practice."

On Cameron Tatum's and Jordan McRae's motivation coming off of the bench
"I would like to think more than anything that they were just ready to play. As far as motivation, they have had 14 games to be motivated to play basketball. But you are also talking about two guys who are very talented players that didn't play a lot of basketball last season. So just to be hungry to play basketball more than anything, whether or not you are starting, it is also who is finishing the game."

On limiting Florida's bench contributions
"When you look at the bench, they are solid role guys. (Mike) Rosario is the one guy who really scores for them off of the bench. The other guys, its put-backs, transition baskets, diving off ball screens. But Rosario is the one guy off of the bench who really makes plays for them and I think he only played two minutes. But their stars get the ball for most of the offense on most given nights."

On sticking with the same lineup against Mississippi State
"Indeed, unless somebody gets injured. Unless somebody gets injured or we have a really have a bad couple days of practice, but I don't see that happening.

On Stokes playing against Mississippi State
"No, I don't know if he is eligible to play. But I think more than anything with Jarnell it is a matter of when physically he is ready to play. He is so far removed from playing five-on-five contact, physical, running, jumping - so when we feel he is ready to play we will make that decision."

On Stokes being ready to play
"Oh, he has been ready to play. But once again it is my job as a coach to put him in the best situation to be successful."

On Stokes' adjustment to learning the Tennessee system
"We brought him in with a couple of other guys to go over some of the terminology, some of the things that we do offensively and defensively. But it is really one day at a time. We will really try and simplify things for him. The most important thing for him is to demand the basketball and play as hard as he can play, but we will never put him in situations where he is not successful. We will shorten the plays - we probably only ran about four plays against Florida because with our motion offense, our ball screen offense, we try and stay away from running a lot of set plays, just in case we will run them if we need them. We will put him in situations where he won't have to remember a lot of plays early."

On Stokes' ability to improve as the season progresses
"I think so when he is ready to play, because he is a power forward type of guy who can step out and make shots, he can score on the blocks. Just really having the right pieces on the floor at the right time is the most important thing. You can also move Ronaldo (Woolridge) to the small forward position in some situations with Jarnell being out there."

On how the team handles success after the big win against Florida
"Really it's a different ball game on the road, especially in the first 10 minutes of the game. You have to set the tone, how you play, you have to move the ball. At home, it is one or two passes and a shot; on the road, it is maybe four or five passes and really executing your offense to make those guys work. Most home teams run off rhythm, they play off runs, quick shots, transition baskets, so we really have to make those guys bog down and defend for a long time."

On the Florida result being a buy-in for the team defensively
"I struggle with the buy-in part because it is either or. I don't think the guys are saying, `Coach, I am not defending.' I don't think they have been defending at the level they have needed to be. I don't think some guys took pride in defending. I think the guys have really bought in and been very receptive and really responsive to what we are doing. I don't get caught up in buying in, it is either or. You have to make a decision, or I will make it for you."

On Mississippi State
"Very talented. Dee (Bost) is a quick point guard. He's physical, he scores it. He's 6-2, gets to the rim and shoots the three-point shot. (Arnett) Moultrie demands a double-team on the blocks and is a physical presence. It's one of those deals where you have to get him off the blocks; you can't let him get in a rhythm. But when a shot a shot goes up, you've still got to keep him off the glass. And one of the most talented guys on the floor, (Renardo) Sidney is 7-for-12 from the three-point line, can score on the blocks and really pass the basketball. And Rodney Hood, I've seen him play a lot of AAU basketball and he's just as talented as any young guard in the country at 6-8. They have so many weapons."

On Deville Smith scoring 24 points at Arkansas
"He's talented. I saw him in high school quite a bit. They have a lot of pieces, a lot of weapons. But once again, it's about not letting those guys get into a rhythm or a comfort zone."

On State's preferred style of play
"Mississippi State wants to run. I think they probably run a little bit more when Sidney's out of the game. When Sidney's in the game they want to pound it inside and get him into the flow offensively. But they will definitely run."

On knowing Rick Stansbury
"Not at all. Outside of watching his teams play, I've never coached against him - even as an assistant coach."

On Josh Richardson's contributions and progress the last few weeks
"He's done it from Day 1 as far as his approach. There was a spurt of maybe two weeks where he wasn't at the level he should have been, playing hard, competing and defending. But he continued to work and continued to compete. I don't think there's a question that he's earned it. This is not a situation to get somebody else motivated to play. He's earned his way and it's his job to lose."

On offensive patience leading to better defense
"Sometimes when you run a motion offense it leads to quick shots. It also leads to a guy with the ball in his hand having to make a decision with the basketball. Most of the time when you run set plays, you know what Plan A, B and C is. With a motion offense, there's a lot of reads, so you have to be able to make good decisions with the basketball. For us, we did a really good job - probably our best job all season of really handling pressure, putting the ball in position to score in the right guys' hands and also making good decisions with the basketball. And that helps with our transition defense. With quick shots, teams get down and don't get back - especially against teams like (Florida) the way they score and the way they shoot the ball. You don't want quick shots that lead to their quick outlets."

On the team's transition defense and ball-screen defense against Florida
"We probably did our best job all season in those two areas: transition defense and ball-screen defense. But once again when you take good shots and your patient on offense, that's the result. And when I say good shots, I don't our guys are really taking bad shots because it's my job as coach to allow guys to play with freedom. But there's a fine line between freedom and also being aware of the situation and not just shooting the ball because you are open. Sometimes there's a reason why you are open."

On what led to the team's sense of urgency defending the home court
"Just going through it more than anything. I can talk it all day long, we can talk about it as a staff all day long, but I think you have to go through it and have a sense of pride of who you're playing for. Obviously you represent your family, but they play for the University of Tennessee and that is the most important thing they have to understand. That's who they play for and that's who they represent. If you do that, you don't worry about all the other things. Ultimately, the bottom line is winning games and they did that."

On the road struggles
"Inexperience and just really going through it. It's a different type of play on the road - not that you change the style of your system, but it's a mindset you play with on the road. One or two passes at home, it's a good shot; on the road, four or five passes. The first 10 minutes of road games you have to set the tone. In the second half when you are in the game and you're executing your offense, you'll be fine. We didn't do a good job our last road game against Memphis in the second half. First of all, we didn't do a good job scoring and then we broke down defensively. You have to give those guys credit for that. But there's a certain way you play and a certain mindset you have to have on the road.

On coaching differently on the road
"Not at all, not at all. It's really our guys understanding the importance that in a road game the score can be 51-50 - that's a win. It doesn't have to be 90-88, exciting. You have to be able to grind that thing out on the road. You have to make it ugly for the home team. They want to play it exciting. They want to get up and down and the fans want to see a show. From that standpoint, you have to slow that thing down and make those guys work."

Opening statement
"College of Charleston is playing well. They are 7-1, although I don't think they've played in a week. Their point guard is coming off a career high 25 points. They did a really good job in their last game of scoring the ball against Chattanooga. Their big guy, (Antwaine) Wiggins, is from the state of Tennessee and playing well for them as a No. 4 man, inside-outside guy. They are forcing about 15 turnovers a game, which is pretty good for those guys. It's really a five-man, motion-type offense with ball screens and a lot of body movement. Their guards do a good job of penetrating and getting into the lane.

"Jeronne (Maymon) is playing well again. I think he's leading the league in field goal percentage at 59 percent, which is impressive. I thought he did a good job in the past week of workouts of really concentrating and making his layups in traffic with bodies around, so that was great to see.

"Kenny (Hall) had another double-figure rebounding night, which is a good sign. He's gaining more confidence on the offensive side of the ball. The most impressive thing about him in the last game is he did a good job of chasing rebounds. He had seven offensive rebounds, which is impressive for him and we are excited about that.

On Charleston's Antwaine Wiggins
"He's a guy who can put the ball on the floor. (He) slashes and has a good frame on him. He's got a small-forward type body, a small-forward, power-forward guy who can play inside-outside, pick-and-pop, attacks off the dribble, posts up a little bit. Just a good all-around player."

On Charleston's defensive tactics
"They might run at you a little bit with a press - not really pressing the whole game but they will do it in spurts. Really, they play man-to-man, getting out in the passing lanes, getting steals, switching ball-screens - different activities like that."

On the team's mindset since Saturday
"For me, it was a loss. Not necessarily a bad loss, but we lost a ballgame. I always tell the guys, `You take the same approach, no matter the opponent.' We never talk about a team's record or that sort of thing. We talk about how we approach the game. I've said it before - we don't have the luxury as a team to go through the motions and get wins. We have to be clicking on all cylinders on both ends of the floor and competing at a high level. I think that was the biggest key.

"For me, it was a loss. I don't put one above the other. You prepare to win a game and we came up short.

On being disappointed in the defense
"I think so. When you watch the film, we give up a lot of points off turnovers. When we break the film down - the Pitt game, the Oakland game - there are a lot of breakdowns where opponents are scoring. When we're solid, I think we are fine. We're really fun to watch when we're solid, but there are a lot of breakdowns.

"Offensive rebounding - you go down the shot clock, 5-4-3, and all of a sudden they get a basket. You work too hard to give up a key offensive rebound, although that wasn't necessarily the case this last game. We just have to be consistent, with every guy consistently carrying out those assignments from start to finish."

On the defensive difference between the Pittsburgh and Austin Peay games
"It more focus than anything. We have guys right now who are built to be offensive players. Whether they are good, average or great offensive players, they are built to be that. Now they have to understand that in order for us to have long-term success, or high-level success, everybody has to defend. You have to do your part.

"We have proven you can score points, but you have to be able to defend in order for us to be successful as a team."

On Trae Golden's progress at point guard
"He's learning at a high level against pressure situations. The best thing for him, and it's the toughest thing right now to go through, is pressure - guys who are really pressuring him. You still have to be able to run the team. You have to go get the ball and run the offense as a point guard. You have to demand the ball. I don't know many teams that can execute offense without their point guard setting it up and running the team. So he has to take the pressure and embrace the pressure, but also play well on both ends of the floor. My gauge once again is not necessarily how he's performing offensively - whether he's making or missing shots - but it's how he's defending, how he's rebounding, how he's boxing out, how he's carrying out those assignments, how he's fighting through ball screens."

On if Golden is affected by how he is shooting
"I think so, because he's a guy who's built to score the ball and shoot the ball at a high level. But in order for him to be successful in this program at a high level, he has to be able to defend - especially as a point guard. You have to be able to defend your position, because everything flows through that guy."

On repetition as a coaching style
"I don't necessarily coach with an iron fist because after a while, that wears down. You have to have guys who understand what you're trying to do and the level you're trying to do it, and make them comprehend the information. Because it's one thing to get a guy to embrace what you're saying - it's long-term - as opposed to a guy doing it because you have your foot on his throat, so to speak. I think there's a big difference. When guys understand what's at stake, how to watch film and how to study film, then you have long-term success. Then it's passed down because it's the way you do things. I think that's the biggest key - just watching film and making guys understand it. You can learn a lot of lessons through watching film."

On Bobby Cremins
"I know he's been doing it for a long time, I think over 30-plus years, and had long-term success. I watched his teams a lot when he was at Georgia Tech and was a big fan of those teams."

On the environment in smaller gyms, with loud crowds near the floor
"For me, it's a fun thing and I look forward to it as a coach. Even as a player, I would look forward to that. It's a matter of our players embracing that opportunity, which is a great atmosphere to be part of. It's an exciting time. There's nothing better than shutting up opposing teams with your preparation, your focus. And you do that by playing great defense."

On if the backdrop of smaller gyms affects shooters
"For me, it didn't when I was a player. I remember going into Butler, Ball State and those arenas - I felt like it was a great atmosphere more than anything. I guess early in my career I wasn't such a shooter, so it didn't bother me how the backdrop was. You just look forward to competing at that level in an opposing team's gym and finding ways to get wins. That's the most impressive thing for me, just getting a road win. I've said it before - there's nothing better than getting a win on the road."

On bench production
"They do things in spurts. We talk about that, being consistent on the bench and coming in ready. Whether or not they are scoring - we can put points on the board. As long as they are ready and in tune to what's going on defensively, not turning the ball over, then I'm fine with that. We cannot be scoring the ball and be breaking down defensively. That's a problem; that's when you have issues. But if they are playing aggressive basketball, they are moving the ball, they are cutting hard, they are playing well offensively - whether or not they are making or missing shots - they can't give up anything defensively."

On changes to the lineup or rotation
"I don't know. You look at every scenario. For us, we have to have a defensive mindset, and I don't know that we necessarily have that right now. Guys are working toward becoming better defenders. But once again more than anything, it's just personal pride when you're playing defense and wanting to be a good defender, and not thinking you can outscore the opponents. We've tried that and it hasn't worked. In order for us to be successful, we have to defend.

"You weigh all your options and we're definitely looking into it as we speak."

On Kenny Hall's progress
"He's done a really good job. For Kenny, he understands and he wants to be good now. For any player, you have to believe in something before you want to do it full-throttle. That's with any young man. Kenny, going through it, now sees the results behind his hard work. And that's the bottom line. He's really bought in. Back-to-back double-figure rebounding nights for him and we expect him to do that consistently.

"But the most impressive thing in the last game was he rebounded the ball physically. A couple of times on film, they boxed him out and he went and got rebounds. He kept the ball high and was able to finish around the basket. That's a great sign to see that he and Jeronne (Maymon) are playing well. Now we have to get everybody clicking on all cylinders."

On not getting the ball inside enough
"It's a combination of posting strong, wanting the ball. The one thing we talked to Kenny about, and even Jeronne, was they have to demand the ball in the blocks. And it's not to say the guards are selfish, but you have to demand the ball in the blocks. But once again, I always go back to the defensive side of the ball. When you demand it on offense, you have to give it up on the other side because it's a fair tradeoff. You have to demand a high level of boxing out, rebounding and ball-screen defense as well. We just don't talk about it on one end; it's on both ends of the floor."

On who is getting close to an acceptable defensive level
"Our big guys are possibly there, right now; they are getting there. Cam Tatum is doing a good job. He's really taking pride in defending; you can see his approach in practice. It's just a matter of doing it. I never thought defense would be that difficult. It's just heart and desire, bottom line. You can take the technique out the door. `I'm stopping my guy' - that's what it comes down to. It's a matter of wanting to be a good defender, because it's not difficult. At least I didn't think so."

On the team's best perimeter defender
"It's between Cam and Josh (Richardson). Josh has to be a great defender, but he's still young and learning to find his way. Cam has really stepped up and taken pride in defending."

On guards realizing that the inside players are scoring
"When you are consumed with team success, you would know those things. With guys open, you feed them and you continue to feed them. But on the other side of that, the good thing and the bad thing about Kenny and Jeronne is they don't demand the ball. Those guys just go about their business. They work hard, they don't make a lot of excuses, they don't complain about it.

"I told those guys, sometimes, you have to say, `Give me the ball.' So I think that's a two-way street. It's the guards recognizing it but also those guys demanding the ball."

On having just one senior being a deficiency at the end of tight games
"More than anything, you have a team that's going through the fire, an inexperienced team that's finding its way. For us as a coaching staff, sometimes we sit there and say, `Who do we go to? Who's feeling good? Who's confident enough to take this shot, to execute a play?' Young guys can make plays; that's not the case at all. It's just a matter of these guys playing with each other more than it being youth. As a coach, you try to figure out the best guy to put the ball in his hands to try and make a play.

"Thank you."

Tennessee head basketball coach Cuonzo Martin at Dec. 7, 2011 press conference

(Opening statement)
"First I would like to say congratulations to Coach Summitt on the Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the year, it is certainly a great honor. It is well worth it. Also congratulations to Cam Tatum. He is getting his degree on Friday, so it is exciting times for us. The hard work he has put in over time, he has paid his dues and it's paying off for him. I am really happy for him. He is really working toward being a successful young man so I am proud about that. I think our guys are certainly making strides, really improving. We have had a really good couple days of practice, guys are competing, great spirits. If you look at the league stats, I don't really get caught up in the stats, I think our guys are really doing some good things, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Scoring and shooting it, really competing. I thought we made strides as a team against Pitt from the standpoint I thought we defended in a game where it was a grind it out type of game. I thought we did a good job of defending and keeping our composure. Also shooting at the 45% clip, which is not a bad thing in a game like that, in a game like that. So I thought we did some good things, we just came up a little short. Trae Golden is playing well, I think he is first and second in the league at assists a game with 6.1 a game, averaging 16.3 points a game. Jeronne at seven plus rebounds a game is doing some good things, continuing to be assertive on the offensive side of the ball. We have to get him more aggressive consistently. We are doing a good job of scoring the ball."

(Talk about Jeronne and what you say in him when you first got here)
"Well I say Jeronne in high school, he was playing on the wing, a 190-200 pound wing player. So I knew who he was, obviously he has picked up weight and he is bigger and stronger. But he is a guy who can pick up the ball and play on the perimeter, he plays the power forward for us, but he is an inside out guy. I think the key for him and the next phase for him is to be consistent, but to also develop that perimeter shot and have confidence in that shot because we want him to shoot that shot from the three point line. But to confidence to take and make them when he is missing them."

(Do you think you might be a litter better thus far in the season and what area do you think you need improvement?)
"I think we are better from a scoring standpoint because we find a way to score points without a lot of low post scoring. Cause I don't really consider Jeronne a low post player even though he is inside out. But I think we have to get the ball inside more, to get to the free throw line more than anything. But not necessarily throwing into the big guys, but also have the dribble getting in the lanes and making plays. But I think the low postproduction, getting more scoring from that standpoint, even on offensive rebounding to get the ball in the basket. For us I think to be consistent on the defensive side with a level of toughness, when teams are making runs, teams are making shots, we turn the ball over. But to be consistent on the defensive side."

(Talk about how Jeronne is responding after the Pitt game and his matchup)
"Oh, he's been fine and once the game was over, I don't put a lot of stock in it. We just say execute our game plan the next day in practice. I don't put a lot of weight on them like that from the standpoint he let us down, because it is a collective team effort. We lost as a team; it's not one guy. I have never been that kind of guy to put that type of pressure on a player. In order to improve you have to accept individual matchups and challenges when you try and take that next step as a player. But he didn't win or lose the game for us. They did a good job of rebounding as a team, 17 offensive rebounds."

(Have you seen more consistency with Tatum?)
"Oh, without a doubt, I think those guys are doing a good job. I think Cam was impressive. To see a guy get 10 rebounds in a game and all the defensive rebounds because there was an emphasis on it for us. So Cam went into the game and carried out those assignments for us, getting rebounds. I think Jordan has to do a better job of going to the glass and getting rebounds and being physical. But I think they are making strides."

(Do you think it was Kenny Hall's best game?)
"I think it was his best game because he rebounded the ball. Once again for a player I don't put a gauge on how many shots they are making or missing, but I thought he did a good job of posting strong and I thought he did a good job of rebounding the basketball. If he can get eight, nine, ten a night we will be alright."

(On shots falling finally for Kenny Hall)
"I think the key when you watch Kenny on film, it's more the footwork and putting himself in a position to score the basketball than the actual shots. He has a decent touch, especially facing up and making shots. But we spent a lot of time watching film on him with his footwork more than anything. He put himself in a position to get those shots off."

(Talk about what you are getting from Yemi and Dwight off the bench)
"I think the past week or so, the past two weeks Dwight has made the strides to really earn minutes. Just having a level of confidence and just understanding what is expected on both ends of the floor. Playing on both ends of the floor, rebounding the basketball. Really just repetition on both ends of the floor with Dwight more than anything. I think with Yemi offensive reps, spacing, and timing. When things are sped in situations up we are calling stuff on the fly he has to respond quickly. He is a very intelligent guy. It's just the terminology he is getting better. Defensively I think he is ready because he is more ready. He is getting rebounds."

(Do you need a game like Austin Peay or do you not look at it like that?)
"You know for us they are all important. And I have never been one to say this is an easier game for us because the approach is all the same. When you allow yourself to let up that is when you fall short. For us it is trying to win a basketball game and doing anything to be successful."

(Do you think Maymon's 32 point 20 rebound game has put pressure on him?)
"I think as a basketball player if you allow that to happen then that is the next phase for him to grow as a young man, a basketball player. As a coach once again I don't even take about it. When it is over it is done with. I just say good job, good job rebounding. We talk about the points. I think the rebounding is a hard thing to do. But if he is putting that pressure on himself that is part of his growth as a young man to take that next step. Because as a staff we don't really talk about it outside of saying great job."

(Talk about being 3-4 against a tough schedule compared to 6-1 against an easy schedule)
"I like to think it will help our guys. I do, because you see have seen some of the best and there is probably not many better you won't see. But some teams have better talent than others, some might have a little bit more, one team might be ranked has a great low post scorer, one team might have four perimeter guys that shoot 40% from three. But it won't be anything that we haven't seen, we won't be smacked in the face from a standpoint these guys are really good. Our guys understand that, they know the approach they have to take into games. It's just a matter of us playing with a level of confidence and a level of focus, as well as a level of toughness from start to finish."

(What have you seen from the players as far as confidence?)
"I agree with that I really do. Like as I said as a staff we really feel like getting on the plane going to Hawaii we could really win that tournament. We really believed that. I just think as a player you have to go through it. You can pick things here, a breakdown over here; you emphasize this and all of the sudden you let up in this area. I just think it is a part of your growth as a team more than anything. I wouldn't say it was a team necessarily had better talent, I just think it was a part of the growth, us trying to process it, trying to win games, who is the go to guy late in the game, who gets the shot, who gets the stop, who is your defensive stopper. I think that is it more than anything outside of this guy is a ranked team or this guy is a great team, I don't think that is the issue. I think so they play with a level of confidence and as a coach you try and encourage our guys. I don't really talk about a lack of confidence. Everything with us is positive, toughness, energy and ready to go. It doesn't matter who we face."

(Talk about how you can use the defense from the Pitt game as a teaching tool)
"I think that the thing that we have made the guys understand more than anything as a staff, we have to play with a level of toughness and you have to carry out assignments on the defensive side. But we also show that 97 points, 80 something points, you don't win games. So you have to defend in order to be successful."

(What do you consider a good assist to turnover ratio for your point guard?)
"I think 3-1, anything 3-1, 4-1. I think those gauges are always good. We spend a lot of time in practice being pressured, being in pressure situations. Two guys running at you, one guy is constantly covering you, in most cases he is probably fouling you. Where you won't see that pressure in a game, but if you do see it you are able to deal with it. You should be able to handle pressure. I think for us turning the ball over, I think we are 12.3 right now, so we are getting it down. I would like to be at ten or below. It's just not making those fancy passes, I think that is the biggest key for us."

(Do you keep track of your plus minus on your players?)
"Not really. As far as minutes played or production on the floor? (Production) Not really, you know Coach K did that a little bit in college. Sometimes you find out with minuses it's your best player so not really I don't."

(Talk about what Cam brings to the team and getting his degree)
"Well I think that the degree is the most important thing. I know a lot of times when you are involved with sports at a high level we somewhat take that for granted, I think that is understood. But not many guys get their degree and that is not their focus. I think he has done a good job of making that his commitment and getting his degree. Understanding the importance of getting his degree and on the court it is just one of those deals where you have to buy what the coach is selling. I think he has done a good job with that, really understanding that let me do what coach is asking in order for me to be successful and the team to be successful. That's why you see the results in him. He is playing with a level of confidence, just feeling good about himself, he's playing hard, and he's accepted the role on the defensive side of the ball, really being a defensive stopper. That's a good sign to see for a senior."

(Talk about the advantages of having a point guard who can score 30 a game and the balancing act of scoring and passing)
"It's really for him reading the defense more than anything. I talked to him again yesterday when you are the point guard and you have the ball in your hand, you are in control of the game. It's picking and choosing your times of shooting and scoring because for most point guards he can get four to eight points a half at the free throw line especially when we are in the bonus. Knowing when to get fouls, we spend time on learning how to get fouled. Getting in the lanes, shot fake, shot fake, seeing the big guys, feeding the big guys when you are running it. Those things are important for his future as a point guard. When he leaves college he will never be a two guard or small forward. So that is his future, understanding that you can still score and be successful. I think for him to take it to the next step and be at that next level of an elite guard at this level he has to become a better defender."

(Where have you seen Golden's progress most?)
"With his decision making he is getting better at that. That is not an easy thing to do when guys are running at you, you have pressure on you. And you haven't played with your big guys a lot. I think that is most important knowing when to hit his big guys in his stride and get them shots. Because a lot of big guys they can't catch the ball on the run in tough situations. So knowing when to get those bigs in situations to be successful."

(Do you think Golden's decision making is something he still needs to learn down the stretch?)
"I just think it's his growth as a player. I know I made those mistakes when I was a young guy. But the thing I appreciated more and where I gained the most confidence was when coach K came back and watched film with me. I just think understanding the last situation was him slowing down to allow Jeronne through because of a flat play that we run. I don't know if you saw Jeronne come up on the side of him, he kind of brought his man in there, but I don't think it was necessarily Trae Golden. Once again one play doesn't win or lose a game for us."

(Have you seen signs of Kenny Hall being able to be more productive as an inside scorer?)
"I have. I think one for us getting him the ball, posting up strong and him getting low. But also the key for him is the footwork, the body balance, and the lower body strength. That's all the strength and conditioning department for us. Certain type of weight lifting techniques that we need to improve on for him. But I think it is more of his body technique than anything."

(Do you changing anything up this month since it is slowing down?)
"Well like I said this past week or so we have really put our motion offense in. It's consuming, it cuts the movement, it's understanding reads, so it's not a lot of set plays being called. You have to be able to read the defense. That's not an easy thing. I thought the guys at the last two guys have done a good job of spacing and trying to read the defense. So that has been the focus. Also the principles, the same stuff we have been teaching defensively. We don't change a lot this time of year. The only thing is the practice is kind of shorter and lightens up somewhat. Other than that, you stick to the script."

(Does this movement offense help with situations like the Pitt game?)
"Oh without a doubt because the guys understand, they understand the offense, where guys strengths and weaknesses are, where your low post scorers are. When you penetrate you pitch because we have played with each other enough to understand that. We also have other plays in our sequence that you might run depending on who is hot in that situation."

(What does Woolridge have to do to get more minutes?)
"I think the biggest key with Renaldo is to just continue to play hard and understand what is expected on both ends of the floor."

(Is the zone something we might see this year against certain teams?)
"Only if we feel like it is to throw a team off balance. But it isn't because we feel like we are giving in and like I have said we have had it in since we have started practice. Regardless of who we have played against, but maybe to throw a team off but it won't be because they are scoring the ball because we have to defend."

(What do you expect on both ends of the floor for Woolridge?)
"To be able to play inside out, to play hard, to rebound at both ends of the floor and that is probably the biggest thing for him. To rebound at a high level in traffic on both ends of the floor. He can play inside outside. With our offense, like Jeronne you are inside or you are outside. So when there are opportunities to be inside you are inside. When you are outside shoot the ball."

(Has Richardson made progress, is he a guy that you need to improve?)
"Oh yeah, with him it is just playing hard. Being a defensive stopper because he is built to do that. Like I tell all the guys your gauge has to be defending and rebounding. How hard are you playing. Don't gauge your performance on how many shots you take, or how many shots you get or how many shots you score."

By JOSH PATE UTSports.com

KNOXVILLE - The Cuonzo Martin Era got under way Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, but it was Trae Golden who stole the show.

Golden scored a career-high 29 points and dished out nine assists in leading Tennessee to a 92-63 victory over UNC Greensboro in the season opener for both teams and the debut of Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin.

The explosive output by the Vols' sophomore point guard dwarfed his previous career-high of 8 points set last season against Memphis on Jan. 11.

"Guys did great job on both ends of the floor, playing as unit," Martin said. "They showed lot of energy. They approached the game with game-like mind-set and shot the ball well in the first half from the 3-point line. We had some good looks.

"Trae did a good job shooting and finding guys to distribute the ball. Nine assists and 29 points is impressive."

Some of Golden's teammates, however, have seen those outbursts before from Golden in high school and AAU basketball.

"The thing about Trae is that a lot of people are surprised to see what Trae can do," said fellow sophomore Jordan McRae, who grew up competing with and against Golden. "Trae playing like that doesn't surprise me at all. Trae is good. I've been seeing him play like that since he was 12, so I wouldn't expect anything less from Trae."

Golden's biggest contribution was from long range. He was 5-of-9 from 3-point land and 10-of-14 overall. And he converted two three-point plays with aggressive drives that drew fouls.

"I felt like they challenged me to shoot the 3," Golden said. "I only shot about 25 percent last season so I would challenge me, too. I having been working on my shot, and the improvement is really repetition."

Tennessee (1-0) placed three others in double figures with Jeronne Maymon scoring 15 points from the post. McRae added 14 points, and Renaldo Woolridge scored 11 points with eight rebounds.

The Vols shot 64.6 percent from the floor. They were 15-of-24 from long range, continuing the hot streak shown in the two preseason exhibition contests.

The Spartans (0-1) were led by Korey Van Dussen's 12 points.

The Vols raced out to a 12-2 lead thanks to five quick points from Golden and never looked back with their aggressiveness.

Golden closed the first half scoring nine consecutive points behind three 3-pointers from nearly the same spot on the court to make it 43-28 with 2:36 to play until the break.

Golden had 19 points in first half on 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

"I thought Golden was great early and that really gave them confidence," UNC Greensboro head coach Mike Dement said. "They got going and got a lot of confidence."

The second half was simply a continuation of the Golden show.

He dished an assist to Maymon early, then followed with a steal that resulted in him going to the free throw line to get Tennessee going.

After UNC Greensboro cut the margin to 15 points with 16:55 to play, Golden converted a three-point play to sway the momentum back toward the Vols. Skylar McBee followed with a 3, and Golden added one of his own to make it 66-42 with 15:02 remaining as the Vols cruised to the victory.

"We're just trying to show them that we worked hard in the offseason and we're trying to represent Tennessee in the right way," Golden said. "We've progressed since the preseason. There are not as many jitters and guys are more aggressive, and that's a good thing for us."

Tennessee is back in action Wednesday when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off at Thompson-Boling Area.